Marketing, advertising & media intelligence

After establishing the New Zealand arm of Whybin\TBWA around 15 years ago, David Walden resigned from his post last year and made way for Todd McLeay. And now he has officially announced his first new role: chairman of The Family, the agency set up by ex-Ikon leaders Tom Davidson and Lee Parkinson.

"It's going to be interesting. Lee and Tom I really rate and enjoy," says Walden.

While he has plenty of experience with creative agencies, media is a different kettle of fish. But he says it's not a traditional media agency. It's about "connections and communication" and there will be a strong focus on digital.

He has a number of other projects on the go, he says, so it's not full time and won't be hands-on, although most would agree there's no such thing as a non-hands-on role when Devo's involved.

"Define hands on," says Davidson, who says Walden won't be involved in the technical, day-to-day side of the business, but will "absolutely be rolling his sleeves up and making decisions".

"We'll be encouraging him to be hands on. He's going to be putting a lot of time in. He believes in what we're trying to do. And he'll probably be able to keep the three of us [Craig Spillane of Bullseye is also a director and shareholder in The Family] in check ... He doesn't want to live it. He's done that. And that's not what interests him. He's interested in a different model and that's the challenge."

When it announced the launch of its new agency earlier this year, it said the agency structure was modelled on that of UK retailer John Lewis, where everyone in the business is considered a partner, and everyone has a stake in the business.

“Today, the best talent is looking for more from an employer than just a pay cheque. They want to be part of something that stands for more than the product or service they sell,” said Davidson.

The agency also aims to extend this philosophy to clients by providing a responsive service that’s dependent on requirements.

Davidson wasn't able to reveal any news on clients, but he's confident its soon-to-launch website will help explain its model and get its feet in doors. He says a lot of clients have have said the model "sounded great", but he admits it needed the commercial nous of Walden and Spillane so that it makes sense to clients from a business point of view.

While there's no official commercial ties between The Family and Bullseye, Davidson says a merger wouldn't be out of the question in the future.

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On Monday, Whittaker’s launched its latest novelty chocolate-lolly mash up with a chocolatey answer to retro bakesale treat coconut ice. The Coconut Ice Surprise chocolate has a twist though, 20c from each block goes to Plunket – a charity which New Zealanders agree is a worthy cause. However, to relate the chocolate to the charity, Whittaker's has built the campaign around baby gender reveal parties, causing a backlash from the public who argue gender norms have expanded beyond blue for boys and pink for girls.

Genius From Elsewhere

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With over 10,000 fires occuring in South Korea residential homes every year, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance has created a flower vase that doubles as a throwable fire extinguisher. The hope is it will raise awareness to the public safety issue of home fire safety.

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Advertisers have stopped buying ads on YouTube after their ads appeared on children's videos where pedophiles had infiltrated the comment section.The New York Times investigates the comments.

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The internet has been up in arms about a supposed 'Anti-LGBT' emoji, featuring a rainbow flag alongside the "no" symbol. However, according to Time, the emoji causing offence is actually "an unfortunate implementation of the standards that govern how text is displayed on our device".

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This year, Super Bowl audiences were treated to a 45-second video of Andy Warhol eating a Burger King Whopper. It was certainly a campaign unlike any before, but did it work? Adweek takes a look.

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As of 1 March, Queenslanders will be able to include one of five emojis alongside their licence places. The options—the laughing-crying face, the winking face, the sunglasses face, the heart-eyed face, or the classic smiley face—are courtesy of Personalised Plates Queensland.

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Why we like it: Infomercial-style ads take us right back to the glorious days of old when we were sick – but not too sick – home from school and got the sought-after opportunity to watch daytime TV. There was literally nothing greater in an eight-year-old's life. So for that reason, these ads get a big tick from us. There's humour, and, despite what often happens when radio hosts venture into a visual format, it doesn't miss the mark.

Who's it for: House of Travel by the in-house team

Why we like it: Who doesn't love when brands bring back a break-out star from one of their earlier campaigns? To be completely honest, we didn't recognise Lucy on first glance, but after a quick trip down memory lane, we placed her as Miss Lucy from that singing and dancing retro campaign House of Travel launched more than a decade ago. We like the continuity of this ad and watching a man choke on his drink after a snapback from a woman doesn't hurt either.

Who's it for: Joblist by Badger Communications

Why we like it: Sonia is a dead-set hero. We are introduced to her glamorous, visor-wearing face peering out from behind a freshly-levelled hedge and the next thing we know she's no ordinary arborist. We watch Sonia as she looks into that shrub's soul and reveals the schnauzer-shaped masterpiece of her own creation. We never knew we needed someone with Sonia's skill set in our lives, but now we know we do. Thank you Sonia for showing us the light.